Page 262 of Evil Hearts

“I don’t kill women.” The growl was fierce and caused me to shudder more than the cold. “Only a coward goes after women.”

“Then why? Why demand the sacrifices? What do you do with us?” The beast sped up and I broke into a near jog to keep up with it. I needed to know. I needed to know why the beast letme go. I needed to know where the women were if they weren’t dead. I needed to understand.

“The same thing I’m doing with you. Nothing.” The beast stopped and spun, giving me its full attention. It grabbed my upper arms and shook me. “Stop following me. Go back to your village, go to the one to the west like the others before you. Just leave me alone.”

We stood face to face, the beast stooping to stare me down. Warmth radiated from it, warming me. But despite the fire in its eyes and the claws pressing against my arms, I wasn’t scared.

Maybe the hours I’d laid on that stone altar had broken me. Maybe I had always been broken. But there, in the frigid woods facing down the monster that haunted all of our dreams, I had no fear. For what was probably the first time in my life, I felt safe.

“No.”

“No? No, what?” The growl vibrated through me.

“I’m not going.” I shrugged out of his grip and moved to walk around him, prepared to head deeper into the woods. He grabbed my arm and swung me around, slamming me into his body.

“What do you think you’re doing?” His chest vibrated against me, and I shuddered. I have no idea what gave me the bravery to stand up to the beast. I don’t know why I believed him about not killing women, but I did.

“I’m going with you.”

Beast

The human wasmad.

It was the only explanation why she was following me into the woods instead of running as fast as she could in the opposite direction as soon as I’d released her. Over the years, there had been a lot of women left to die in the woods in some strange human ritual. Every last one of them had run from me.

This tiny thing with long brown hair and giant blue eyes hadn’t run. Instead, she stood chest to chest with me and insisted she follow me back to my den.

Clearly, she was mad.

But so was I. Because I almost wanted to let her. The fierce little creature shivered in the night air and dared to stand toe to toe with me. I knew what I was to the people of her village. I was the monster in the night, the horrible beast who would eat children who strayed too far into the woods.

It didn’t matter that I kept the village safe. It didn’t matter that I kept to the pact made with the first humans who settled there. I was the big, bad monster to be feared.

“Aren’t you worried I’ll eat you as a snack?”

“Better you than some other creature in the woods.” She shrugged, as though the idea really didn’t bother her. What was wrong with her?

“Run along, little human. These woods aren’t meant for you.” I released my grip on her arms and stepped back. My paws itched at the loss of her.

What spell did this girl have over me? The soft scent of her teased me in the crisp night air. I wanted to bury my snout in her neck and just breathe her in. But the human wasn’t mine to keep, and I would not allow myself to become distracted by her.

I was the keeper of the forest. The protector of the animals who inhabited it and those who passed through. I did not have time or inclination to add another human to protect.

Hadn’t it been enough to keep them safe and keep the predators away from her village? Wasn’t releasing her from her bonds and giving her options enough? Why must she bother me so?

And why did I yearn for her to stay? Why did her bothersome presence soothe a jagged part of my soul? I wanted to bury myself in her and never let her go.

“I’m not going anywhere.” She stepped closer, and I fought the battling urges inside of me that both wanted to step back and push her away and the one that wanted to grab her and pull her into me.

The girl winced. Blood scented the air. She hissed out a breath and looked to the ground. There was a sharp branch impaling her foot.

Without decision or thought, I reached for her. She weighed nothing in my arms as I swung her up and began carrying her through the trees.

“Where are you taking me?”

“To my den.”

Mari

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